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  5. Local Search - can I use a shortened company name

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Local Search - can I use a shortened company name

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  • paulfoz1609
    paulfoz1609 last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 5:35 AM

    Can I use a shortened version of our company name for local search or does it need to match the name registered at companies house exactly?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • paulfoz1609
      paulfoz1609 last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 8:32 PM Jun 22, 2017, 8:32 PM

      Thanks, thats put my mind at ease

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • MiriamEllis
        MiriamEllis Subject Expert @paulfoz1609 last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 8:32 PM Jun 22, 2017, 7:44 PM

        I always find it useful to look at real-world examples, Paul. For example, look at the footer of Whole Foods' website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com. You'll see them identified there as Whole Foods Market IP, L.P., but if you look up Whole Foods San Diego Ca, what do you see on the GMB listing? Just Whole Foods Market.

        So, for legal purposes, you may need to include your full designation in the footer of your website, but provided the things assets I've mentioned previously (street level signage, website logo, etc.) are all consistent with your Evowrap name, I don't envision you'd have a problem there. Whole Foods clearly doesn't seem to be.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • paulfoz1609
          paulfoz1609 @MiriamEllis last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 6:22 PM Jun 22, 2017, 6:22 PM

          The fact that companies house has got the full name doesnt matter too much then?

          On the website everything refers to us as Evowrap except at the bottom of the websites footer it says our registered office details.  This has the full LTD company name.  Will that cause a problem? Would I be better changing that to the none full name?

          MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2017, 7:44 PM Reply Quote 0
          • MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 5:18 PM Jun 22, 2017, 5:18 PM

            Hey Paul,

            So, if your street-level and website-level marketing is all Evowrap rather than your full legal business name, then its Evowrap Google would want. It's the real-world consumer experience that Google wants reflected in their product.

            paulfoz1609 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2017, 6:22 PM Reply Quote 1
            • paulfoz1609
              paulfoz1609 @MiriamEllis last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 4:42 PM Jun 22, 2017, 4:42 PM

              Our full company name is Evowrap Films and Vinyls LTD.  We own the trademark Evowrap and our logo, print material etc is all Evowrap.  This is what we trade as altohugh our full legal name is the full version the full LTD version.  I heard something suggesting that NAP included companies house which is why I thought Id need to use the full version for the local citations.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • MiriamEllis
                MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 6:32 PM Jun 22, 2017, 4:25 PM

                Hi Paul,

                Good question. Google's guidelines make it clear that they want your business name on your GMB listings to identically match what consumers see in the real world. So, the name on your street level signage, your print marketing, your website logo and content, and your telephone greetings should be what you put on your GMB listing. And then, for the sake of consistency, as Sean mentions, you'll want all of your other local business listings to match this. So, short answer - no, don't shorten your name, unless you wish to formally change it and update all off and online marketing to reflect it.

                I'm curious as to why you'd need to shorten the name. Is it super long?

                paulfoz1609 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2017, 4:42 PM Reply Quote 1
                • seanginnaw
                  seanginnaw last edited by Jun 22, 2017, 6:32 PM Jun 22, 2017, 5:59 AM

                  Hey there,

                  In an ideal world, I would recommend maintaining the NAP (Name, Address & Postcode) you use anywhere else on the internet. This allows search engines (and users for that matter) to have some degree of continuity between your business listings.

                  Moz local is a decent tool for analysing your business listing and checking that your NAP is the same across the internet. It'll even highlight sites where this isn't the case so you can manually update them.

                  All the best,

                  Sean

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